How Do You Know a Great Freelancer When You Meet One?

You’re a business or organization in need of design work. You don’t want to bring in an in-house designer, but from time to time you’d love to have an awesome go-to freelancer that knows your business and your taste.

But how do you know a great freelancer when you meet one? What traits does a great freelancer have?

Traits of a Great Freelancer

Whether you contact a potential freelancer via phone, Skype, or email, use this list to determine if you’ve found a keeper.

Is Simple to Contact. A great freelancer makes it easy to get in touch and is up-front about their availability.

Has Professional Communication Skills. A great freelancer establishes credibility with a confident pitch, a clear voice, and written correspondence free of spelling errors and grammar mistakes.

Asks Questions. A great freelancer takes the time to learn about your company, your project, and your vision.

Sets and Meets Deadlines. A great freelancer sets specific deadlines and meets them, even if it’s just returning a phone call. (Example: I’ll email you a quote no later than Wednesday. And then they follow through.)

Uses a Contract. A great freelancer protects both parties by drafting a contract stipulating the project’s scope, time frame, and costs (at the minimum).

Will Explain the Process. A great freelancer understands that you may not be familiar with the process of creating your project and will, upon inquiry, happily explain their method of doing business.

Great Post April,
good to know you’ve got your blog going on; always look forward to your post on GDB. Sure this goes beyond what to expect from a freelancer, but also modus operandi that guides a freelancer’s transition fro good to great.
In my environment most client’s find it difficult to give response to what they think of their competitors, they think letting you in on their strategy makes in ineffective but that is what you’re there to project. How do I handle this.
Gracias.

Thanks for making my day! I’m so pleased to hear such kind words about my blog posts.

People are very wary of discussing their strategies, I agree. I think your best bet is to promote yourself as a helper. You’re there to help, and you’re an expert in your field, and you can’t help them unless you understand their company and their competition.

Perhaps also try rewording your questions if clients are resistant. Or ask if they’ve tried different tactics, so that you’re offering strategic ideas rather than asking them to provide them. If they seem commonplace (by you mentioning them), they’re less likely to hold them close to their breast.

Why I Blog About Design

What My Clients Say

April is so imaginative and her engagement in our missionshows in the products she has designed for us. We currently have her design on our summer camp T-shirts, which attracted so much positive feedback and were so popular we printed more to sell in our retail store.

I’ve really enjoyed working with April on website design and development. Her WordPress knowledge and graphic design experience are great value adds for my business. April’s sense of dedication, time allocation, and project management are skills I seek, and she delivers.

April is one of the most competent people I have ever worked with. Clear, concise, and reliable. She is extremely versatile and brings new perspectives into play when she works! I would recommend April to anyone who needs a job done right!

April responded first to my request with pertinent information zeroing in on exactly what I was trying to achieve. I couldn’t have been more pleased with her professionalism, prompt info and work timelines and she has a wonderful and uplifting personality to boot.

April has been a pleasure to work with as she is not only talented as a graphical designer, but she is also very reliable. Furthermore, she goes above and beyond by quickly delivering for us when we surprise her with last minute emergency requests.

Besides being a joy to work with, April is a take-charge person who is able to present creative ideas and communicate the benefits. She has successfully developed several marketing plans for our company that have resulted in increased new store sales.